It’s been a year since Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida. If you ask most people, we are still processing it. What a long year it’s been. Progress is slow and the time “before” seems long ago. We miss our previous version of Southwest Florida. Although I know that work is being done, so much has been lost.
We first heard about the storm from Mike at http://www.mikesweatherpage.com, his Twitter and YouTube videos were vital leading up to the storm. Because of him, we were able to secure water, propane, gas, etc before the local news networks ever talked about the storm.
The Calm Before the Storm:
Leading up to Hurricane Ian we over prepared. It was our first hurricane, having only lived here through a small tropical storm the year before. My YouTube channel was only a few weeks old and although I tried to film some of the preparations I really didn’t know what I was doing (do I even still?), so most of that footage still sits on my phone.
We live in a new development and didn’t know too many people in the neighborhood yet, as there weren’t even many houses built. However, neighbors were more than willing to help. From borrowing ladders to lending out coolers, it was a group effort to prepare. We had enough time to order supplies from Amazon, like water bags, a BOB to keep water clean in the tub, battery packs, fans, a solar powered radio (this was probably one of our best purchases), and solar lights. The kids and I went food shopping a few days prior, and we ordered a mini fridge from Target pickup that we were able to keep cool with a battery pack. We also made pizza dough the morning of the hurricane and let that proof for a few days. 3 days into our 6 days without power we were able to have homemade pizzas on the grill. Food was not lacking, that was for sure.
The worst part was the waiting. In the days leading up we were busy preparing and watching the approaching storm. As the hours counted down, the waiting became unbearable. Everything was done and all there was to do was wait and hope for the best. The kids school was cancelled 2 days prior, and they wouldn’t go back for 3 weeks, so we kept busy while trying not to scare them with what was about to happen. Having access to many many snacks helped.
The Hurricane’s Arrival:
The rain and wind started the night before. As we sat in our shuttered up house not being able to see out, we kept busy watching the news. As the hours went by the storm that was supposed to go north kept turning more and more east. It was going to hit Southwest Florida straight on, and the night before we knew this. I talked with my sister-in-law who lives in Cape Coral. Police came through their neighborhood and told them they needed to leave by 7 if they were evacuating. The bridge to get off Cape Coral was to be shut down. She hung up saying she had to figure out what to do. The call came a little after 7 that she and her family decided to stay.
Adrenaline caused me to stay up far too late the night before the storm. As I went to bed at 1am the rain was coming down harder and the wind was picking up. Our local weatherman had been on TV all day and was still giving forecasts, having lost his tie and jacket at this point, with his sleeves rolled up he kept advising people that this was going to be a bad one.
The next morning we made cinnamon rolls, drank a lot of coffee, and again, tried not to scare the kids. We inflated an air mattress and put it in the living room and hung out on the patio furniture that was scattered around inside. It had been said over and over that we WOULD lost power. It wasn’t a “if”, it was a “when”. We charged all electronics and our battery packs, turned the fridge and freezer as cold as they went, had our RTIC and Yeti cooler frozen solid, and at 11am we lost power.
With the house now completely dark due to the hurricane shutters being up, we all went to the master bedroom. The window there was impossible to put a shutter on, so it was left off and we were able to see outside. The kids got unlimited iPad time and snacks, which made them very happy. We hooked up our wifi router to a battery pack and were able to keep track what was happening. Around 2:00 we were watching our local weatherman, still reporting on the storm, as water flooded their studio and the signal went out. That’s around when our phones stopped working as well. Where the bar strength typically was it now said SOS. This is when things went downhill. Not knowing what was happening out there and the damage that had happened before the hurricane even hit was terrible. The wind continued to pick up and the waves on our lake got higher and higher. Construction debris started flying around and the whistling of the wind through the screens was loud. Around 5:00pm we put the kids in a interior closet and hunkered down to get through the last of it.
The Aftermath:
In the evening the wind died down and the house started to feel hot from being closed in with no air conditioning. We went downstairs to our dark living room and plugged in a small light and fan to our battery pack. Standing on the second level of our house we were able to get quick phone calls out to our family, but still hadn’t heard from our family in Cape Coral, which was where the eye of the hurricane went. The kids went to sleep on the previously blown up air mattress, with what I hoped was just a memory of a adventurous and unusual day.
The first thing we did the next morning was take down as many shutters as possible. With the doors open and the breeze blowing though the house it was impossible to tell what had happened outside our community. We remembered the solar radio that had been a last minute addition to an Amazon shopping spree and found a station that was broadcasting the audio from the local news broadcast. They tried to describe over the radio what was being shown on screen but we couldn’t quite fathom what it all looked like, just that their gasps and sadness were palpable over the airwaves. It was not good.
Our Cape Coral family made it though the storm as well. They came to stay and we spent the next 6 days without power and 3 weeks with contaminated water that needed to be boiled before use. Taking walks and bike rides around the neighborhood we were able to piece together some of the things that had happened around us. Some of our phone signals started to come back after a few days and that’s when we saw the devastation. My sister-in-law and I have mentioned a few times we’d like to see the news footage from that day after we lost connection, and in the days that followed when we were in the dark. But when I think about everything I’ve seen now with rebuilding, I don’t believe that is something I’ll do.
The Road to Recovery:
The death toll I don’t believe has ever been released. In the first few days we heard a lot about the rising numbers in Charlotte and Lee County, but then we heard nothing. So many lives were lost. Businesses, homes, and beloved belongings were swept out to sea or thrown around islands. Bridges, beaches, historical structures are gone.
The YouTube channel I started September 1, 2022 that was going to be about theme parks and tourist destinations has become a resource for those looking to see what happened to their homes, beaches, vacation retreats, and places where precious family memories have been made for so many years. I get countless comments about how people have visited Sanibel for 40 years, or spent their childhood visiting Fort Myers Beach and were carrying on the traditions with their kids. People who were hoping to come see the beaches for the first time, and those who just want one more visit. So many people love this beautiful paradise of Southwest Florida.
Reflections on the One-Year Anniversary:
Rebuilding continues, and it feels slow, I know. I feel it too. I hope today you’ll think of those that lost their lives, lost their homes, lost their businesses. Years and years of work was taken away in a day, and it’ll take a long time to come back. But it’s coming back, different, for sure, but stronger.
As for me, after 35+ years of visiting this area and 2+ years of living here full time, I feel a bit lost. Places like Bonita Beach have been a part of my life for so long, and it’s always looked the same. I have memories of taking the trolley with high school friends from outside The Beach and Tennis Club up to times square on Fort Myers Beach and pretending to be college kids. We ate Gyros, got henna tattoos, and bought our FMB t-shirts to proudly wear back in Minnesota.
A few weeks ago I saw the trolley at Bowditch Point Park, and later when I went to Lovers Key it was parked there too. It gave me hope. Things will never be the same, but Southwest Florida lives on.
Thanks for writing this. We are also visitors for over 30 years from Minnesota. It will not be the same, but hopefully it will continue to be a great area to visit and live for many more years. Coming to Marco in January and February and then cape-coral in March. We still love this destination. 😀
Thanks for reading Timothy! So many Minnesotans in the area. You’re right it won’t be the same, and the recovery feels painfully slow, but we love it here. I hope you have a great trip to Marco and Cape Coral! I spend a lot of time in both of those places. Snook Inn on Marco just reopened a few weeks ago!